Hot Springs Cove

Day 18 | West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Friendly Cove to Hot Springs Cove

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Overnight the wind dropped and the swell (Friendly Cove gets some swell) died off. The 4:40 a.m. light station reports sounded promising (single digit winds, one foot chop or rippled), so at about 7:00 a.m. we got underway for the four hour trip from Nootka Sound to Clayoquot Sound. The morning light was particularly pretty: Sea conditions were perfect: a gentle swell, no wind waves, little current. As we neared … Read more

Circumnavigating Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 18 | Hot Springs Cove to Ucluelet

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We’ve been spoiled by the weather this trip. Other than a few hours of beam seas around Cape Scott, and maybe 45 minutes of head seas north of Seymour Narrows, conditions have been pretty darn calm. What little wind we’ve had has been from behind us—northwesterlies are typical during summer—and we can’t imagine a smoother trip around Vancouver Island. Unfortunately, the summer weather pattern is beginning to fall apart. Today … Read more

Circumnavigating Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 17 | Friendly Cove to Hot Springs Cove

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We left the anchorage at Friendly Cove around 7:00 a.m. The reported wind at Estevan Point was 5 knots at 6:00 a.m., and we felt very little swell as we got out of Nootka Sound and into the open Pacific. By the time we were abeam of Estevan Point, we showed 1 to 2 knots of wind and a very light chop with maybe a 1 foot swell. We could … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 11 | Hot Springs Cove to Tofino

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Our original plan for the next few days was to cruise to Quait Bay tonight (in Clayoquot Sound), then continue to Ucluelet (in Barkley Sound) tomorrow. We’d stay for two nights so people could take a day trip by bus to Tofino. Tofino is a hugely popular tourist destination, but it’s difficult to visit by boat. Last summer when we visited it was quite tricky due to the swift currents, … Read more

West Side of Vancouver Island Flotilla | Day 10 | Yuquot (Friendly Cove) to Hot Springs Cove

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We were pleasantly surprised when we awoke to…no fog!! We left Yuquot at 6:00 a.m. and headed for Estevan Point. Environment Canada predicted variable winds 5-15 knots. Windy showed southeast winds in the 10-15 knot range, a little worse but we didn’t think it would be too bad. Best of all, the weather reporting station at Estevan Point showed southeast winds of just six knots. Airship left a little earlier … Read more

Estevan Point and Hot Springs Cove | West Side of Vancouver Island

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Continuing south from Friendly Cove requires rounding Estevan Point, one of the significant headlands on the west side of Vancouver Island. The forecast for today sounded acceptable—wind light, building to west 15-25 knots in the afternoon and northwest 25-35 knots in the evening. We planned to head for Hot Springs Cove, about 28nm or four and a half hours away. Given the forecast for deteriorating conditions, we planned to head … Read more